


Everything Will Be Alright

by Rumpelstiltskin_wait



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, I'm so sorry, Sad, just kidding I'm not sorry at all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-04
Updated: 2015-04-04
Packaged: 2018-03-21 04:45:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3678060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumpelstiltskin_wait/pseuds/Rumpelstiltskin_wait
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>On the anniversary of their first meeting, Rumplestiltskin thinks back on his life with Belle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything Will Be Alright

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a one-shot based off of the movie ‘One Day’. If you’ve seen the movie, well, you know what’s coming. If you haven’t seen the movie, I'm sorry.

February 12th. 

That date haunts him.

But it wasn’t always this way.  

It was February 12th the first time he saw her, standing there in her father’s war room clutching a book to her chest.   
That book was called ‘Her Handsome Hero’. He knows this because it was her favorite. He knows that her mother gave it to her as a child, and he knows that she read it till the pages fell out and the cover faded from sky blue to gray. He kept that book, worn and falling apart. He treasures it, reads it until lovingly repaired pages tear, and he fixes every one. 

It hadn’t been love at first sight.   
Probably more along the lines of contempt at first sight if he was being honest, but not love. Oh, but it hadn’t taken long, not for him anyway. The way she would flit around with her smiles and her laughs and her unwarranted cheery disposition. The way she didn’t fear to reach out and touch his hand, or in rare moments of unbridled excitement, wrap her arms around his neck in a bone crushing hug. The way she bypassed his harsh armor of a personality and with hardly any effort at all stared straight into his soul.   
These were the things that made him fall in love with her.   
These are the things he remembers her by. 

They had gone through hell and back just to be happy. 

The first time it was his fault. He pushed her away when they needed each other the most, and he thought he had lost her forever. But somehow, against all odds, she cameback to him.

The second time was the fault of a man with a gun, and a grudge. But that didn’t stop him from blaming himself when she didn’t remember his name. Then, once again, against all odds, she was returned to him. 

The third time he had to leave her. He always knew he would have died for her, and so…he did. Oh, but even death didn’t stop them from getting back to each other, no, for the third time, against all odds and obstacles, she got him back. 

The fourth time it was his fault again, and the worst of all. He didn’t choose her when he had the chance. Instead he chose power, and for that he paid dearly, when, with tear filled eyes, she told him it was too late. So with every fiber of his being he set out to right his wrongs. It took time and it took sacrifice and sometimes it seemed hopeless, but in the end he did it, and they both came out stronger for it. 

And then they were happy, so happy; happier than they had ever been in their lives. Not long after, their happiness expanded in the form of a gorgeous blue eyed baby girl named Elizabeth. And oh what a beautiful family they were, for three wonderful years. 

It was February 12th when that happiness was taken from them.

It was taken by the force of an oncoming bus. 

The life drained from his love as he sat obliviously awaiting her return from what should have been leisurely bike ride.  

It was February 12th when his wife, his true love, his Belle, was taken from him for the fifth and final time. 

 

********

 

It’s February 12th and Rumplestiltskin is sitting on a weathered bench watching his Elizabeth pretend to fly on a swing set. 

These are the moments he cherishes more than anything; these moments of pure unadulterated childish glee. They were becoming more and more frequent as time went on, and he supposes that’s just a sign of his daughter healing. He wishes he were as lucky.

He feels the presence of another body sit on the end of the short bench, but doesn’t turn to find out who has the courage to sit next to Storybrookes most feared widower. 

“She looks more and more like Belle every day” says the courageous soul, and Rumplestiltskin turns his attention to the familiar voice. 

Belle’s father had always been reluctant in his trust of Rumplestiltskin, even more-so after Belle and his fourth reuniting.  But after Elizabeth was born, some would say a switch flipped in Maurice French. 

Perhaps it was seeing the happiness in all of their eyes when they were together, or the way Rumplestiltskin looked at his daughter and his grandchild with nothing but love and adoration, or maybe it was the new mutual understanding of being a father. Whatever it was, Maurice had since put aside his contempt for his son-in-law and been a constant fixture in all three of their lives. 

After Belle’s death, Maurice was the only one that truly understood the magnitude of Rumplestiltskin’s agony, having lost his daughter, and his own wife and true love to an equally horrid fate. They’d shared a sort of unspoken bond ever since. 

“Moe.” Rumplestiltskin says, directing a nod at his father-in-law before turning his attention back to his daughter. “Yes, she does.” He says after a beat.

There’s a long moment of silence before Maurice speaks “Three years today…I can hardly believe it’s been that long. Some days it still feels like it only happened yesterday.” 

Rumplestiltskin nods in agreement, except for him it’s not only some days; it’s every day. 

“Will you be okay today?” Maurice asks after a beat, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, anxiously rubbing his hands together in front of him. 

Rumplestiltskin tightens his grip on the gold handled cane resting between his legs and lets out an uneven sigh. “I try, for Lizzy.”

“I could take her...if you want. Distract her with some little work in the shop, you know how she loves making arrangements.” The man releases a broken chuckled and continues “Maybe one day she’ll come work for her grandpa…She’d be a wonderful florist.”

“Thank you, Maurice, but no. I need her today. Without her I’d end up emptying my liquor cabinet and breaking gods know what.” He doesn’t look at the man next to him, only stares ahead into the air, even when he feels the other man’s gaze burning into the side of his skull. 

The searing gaze lifts and turns toward the same nothing that Rumplestiltskin is still staring off into. “I hate today. February 12th. I never acknowledged it really. I guess it was always there, it was always the day I thought I lost her forever, even if I didn’t realize it.” Maurice takes a deep breath, drawing a hand over his face. “I hated _you_ too…”

Rumplestiltskin turns his gaze back at the man and stares flatly at him

“Oh don’t look at me like that. I hated you and you hated me, both for good reason.” He pauses as an excited shriek emanates from the playground. “I hated you for taking her away from me…then we got here and she was back and I realized she loved you, I saw the way she looked at you.” Another bout of shrieks interrupts him for a moment. “She lit up with you. More than she ever did with anyone else. Not even me. And gods it made me so angry, because I never thought-“  his voice breaks, and Rumplestiltskin turns in time to see Maurice rubbing tears away from his eyes with the balls of his hands, his voice hoarse as he continues “I never thought you deserved her. But…But she made you decent. She made you a good man, and in return you made her _so happy_. Gods above you made her happy.” Maurice turns toward Rumplestiltskin now, meeting his tear filled eyes with his own. “And I…I’ll always be grateful to you for that.”

Rumplestiltskin opens his mouth and takes in a shallow, shaky breath. “Thank you.” His hand hovers over his heart “All I ever wanted was to make her happy...Thank you, truly.” He says, tears spilling down his cheeks. 

Before either of them says anything further, they’re interrupted by Elizabeth’s enthusiastic shouts of “Grandpa!” as she rushes into the man’s arms. 

“Hello little dove, and how are you today?” Maurice smiles, wrapping his granddaughter in a tight embrace, moving her to stand between his knees.

“Good! But…” She leans in to her grandpa’s ear and whispers “Papa is sad today.”

Maurice moves back to look at her face and nods soberly, then whispers back “That means you just have to love him extra today” rubbing a hand over her back 

Elizabeth’s eyes widen and she smiles brightly at her grandpa before practically flinging herself into her papa’s arms. 

“oOf, my love, what’s wrong?” Rumplestiltskin asks, holding her tight against his chest as she crushes his neck with her little arms. 

“Nothing’s wrong papa. Everything’s gonna be alright.” She says, keeping her arms around his neck as she moves back and presses hard kisses to both his cheeks and forehead. 

Tears stream from his eyes as he pulls her back to his chest, one hand cupping the back of her head, the other arm wrapped tightly around her back, clutching to her for dear life. 

It will never be easy, he will never get over, and he will never forget, but as long as he has his Elizabeth, everything will be alright.     
  
  
  
     


End file.
